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Monday 31 May 2010

WINNER: MAY LOVE

Our MAY LOVE winner is.... (((drum roll)))

Amanda of Story Wings


Congratulations to our winner!! And thank you to everyone who entered the contest!! If you didn't win this time, there are more contests here, so make sure you grab your chance to win... it could be you on our next winner announcement :)

Friday 28 May 2010

I SO WANT TO READ THIS: FIRELIGHT

Firelight by Sophie Jordan

Genre: urban fantasy, YA

Publication Date: 7 September 2010

About Firelight :
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness leads her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.

Thursday 27 May 2010

Review: SABRIEL by Garth Nix

Sabriel by Garth Nix
Book 1 of the Old Kingdom trilogy

Genre: dark fantasy

About Sabriel:
For many years Sabriel has lived outside the walls of the Old Kingdom, away from the random power of Free Magic, and away from the Dead who won't stay dead. But now her father, the Charter-Mage Abhorsen, is missing, and to find him Sabriel must cross back into that world.

Though her journey begins alone, she soon finds companions: Mogget, whose seemingly harmless feline form hides a powerful -- and perhaps malevolent -- spirit, and Touchstone, a Charter-Mage long imprisoned by magic, now free in body but still trapped by painful memories.

With threats on all sides and only each other to trust, the three of them must travel deep into the Old Kingdom, toward a battle that will pit them against the true forces of life and death -- and bring Sabriel face-to-face with her own hidden destiny.

A tale of dark secrets, deep love, and dangerous magic!

SABRIEL is the first book in the Abhorsen trilogy.
Source: Info in the About Sabriel was taken from the books' official website at http://www.abhorsentrilogy.com/abhorsen.html on 22/05/2010.

My Review:
Fast-paced page-turner. The storytelling quality is very compelling. Nix gives us characters which will stay with a reader long after one has finished reading the book. World building is beautifully woven that a reader can suspend disbelief effortlessly. Simply masterpiece.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries

Wednesday 26 May 2010

WW28: SECRET SPEAKERS

WW28
  • First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
  • Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
  • Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering: Secret Speakers by KSR Kingworth
Page 28, 1st Sentence:
"Yes, thank you. Have you eaten?"
Sounds like a language learning course book :)

About Secret Speakers:
Thirteen year-old Fair O'Nelli has spent the last nine years of her life living in a cellar. She knows her father and brother are missing, or possibly dead. Set free on her day of maidenhood when it's safe to be seen, Fair sets off in the company of three guardians to find Selador's Gate. Along the way she discovers a dark secret the parents of Cloven Grave know nothing about, where the key to survival is learning to see things as they are.
Source: Info in the About Secret Speakers was taken from the back of the book.

Book Link(s):
www.secretspeakers.com

Monday 24 May 2010

Review: IMZADI by Peter David

Imzadi by Peter David
Star Trek The Next Generation series book

Genre: science fiction

About Imzadi :
Before they served together on the Enterprise, Commander William Riker and counselor Deanna Troi had a tempestuous love affair on her home planet of Betazed. Although their passions cooled, they remained Imzadi - bonded. When Deanna dies, Riker is forced into an adventure across time.
Source: Info in the About Imzadi was taken from amazon at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Imzadi-Star-Trek-Next-Generation/dp/0671026100/ on 24/05/2010.

My Review:
I've read this book about 15 years ago borrowed from the library. I would still say that this book is a very good read! The world building was already set by the star trek movies/series so the world building and character development there cannot be scored as it was already done long before this book was published. The author however spins a tale about the two characters in star trek which I really liked. And I think this has contributed a whole lot to my reading pleasure! My addiction and craving was fed! The story telling was compelling enough that I would give it a 4 out of 5. The story itself was a much-loved one and I would give it a 5 out of 5. Overall entertainment value, I would give this book a 5 out of 5. I still love this book after all these years...

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5 cherries

Saturday 22 May 2010

IN THE MAIL: THE RAINE BENARES SERIES, etc.

I would like to thank The Qwillery for hosting the Interview with Lisa Shearin and Contest which made it possible for me to win The Raine Benares Series by Lisa Shearin!!!

The Raine Benares series:

Magic Lost, Trouble Found (Book 1)
My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. The people who hire me are usually happy when I find things. But some things are better left unfound…

Raine is a sorceress of moderate powers, from an extended family of smugglers and thieves. With a mix of street smarts and magic spells, she can usually take care of herself. But when her friend Quentin, a not-quite-reformed thief, steals an amulet from the home of a powerful necromancer, Raine finds herself wrapped up in more trouble than she cares for. She likes attention as much as the next girl, but having an army of militant goblins hunting her down is not her idea of a good time. The amulet they’re after holds limitless power, derived from an ancient, soul-stealing stone. And when Raine takes possession of the item, it takes possession of her.

Now her moderate powers are increasing beyond anything she could imagine—but is the resumé enhancement worth her soul?

Armed And Magical (Book 2)
My name is Raine Benares. Until last week I was a seeker—a finder of things lost and people missing. Now I’m psychic roommates with the Saghred, an ancient stone with cataclysmic powers. Just me, the stone, and all the souls it’s ingested over the centuries. Crowded doesn’t even begin to describe it…

All Raine wants is her life back—which means getting rid of the stone and the power it possesses. To sort things out, she heads for the Isle of Mid, home to the most prestigious sorcery school, as well as the Conclave, the governing body for all magic users. It’s also home to power-grubbing mages who want Raine dead and goblins who see her as a thief. As if that’s not enough, Mid’s best student spellsingers are disappearing left and right, and Raine’s expected to find them.

Lives are at stake, goblins are threatening to sue, mages are getting greedier, and the stone’s power is getting stronger by the hour. This could get ugly.

The Trouble With Demons (Book 3)
My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. People hire me when they need something found. I’m not usually the one being sought. But that all changed when I found the Saghred, a soul-stealing stone of unlimited power — and the bane of my existence. Now mages and madmen have me in their sights, not to mention demons…

An opened Hellgate leads to a demon infestation on the Isle of Mid, and while there’s never an ideal time to face down demon hordes, it’s hard to imagine a worse one. Already fighting the influence of the Saghred, Raine discovers she is also magically bonded to a dark mage and a white knight, two dangerous and powerful men on opposing sides — and Raine’s stuck in the middle.

But with demons pouring through the Hellgate, Raine can’t afford to be distracted. Turns out, the demons want the key to unlock the Saghred. As a seeker, Raine should be able to find it first. As the axis of light and dark powers, she’s a magical cataclysm waiting to happen…

Bewitched And Betrayed (Book 4)
My name is Raine Benares. I’m a seeker. I find lost things and missing people — usually alive. Finding the specters of six evil mages who escaped the Saghred, a soul-eating stone of unlimited power, was easy. Stopping them before they unleash Hell on earth just may be the death of me.

Being bonded to the Saghred wasn’t my idea — neither is hunting down its escapees. Especially not when one of them is also hunting me. He’s regenerating his body by taking the lives of powerful victims, along with their memories, knowledge, and most important of all, their magic. The dark mage wants control of the Saghred, and if he gets it, he’ll become an evil demigod whom no one can stop. The only thing in his way is me.

One of us doesn’t stand a ghost of a chance.
Source: Info in The Raine Benares series was taken from The Qwillery at http://qwillery.blogspot.com/2010/05/interview-with-lisa-shearin-and-contest.html on 15/05/2010.

I would like to thank Miranda for holding a book giveaway at Goodreads which made it possbile for me to win Sex In The City Paris edited by Maxim Jakubowski!!!

Hatching Magic by Ann Downer

This book was bought from amazon.

About Hatching Magic:
Poor Theodora Oglethorpe! Her biologist father has gone off to explore the jungles of Laos without her, her two best friends are away on vacation, and a long hot lonely Boston summer is all she has to look forward to.

Poor Gideon! Wycca, his pet wyvern, has disappeared through a magic hole in time in search of a place to lay her egg. Kobold, Gideon's rival wizard, wants nothing more than to capture Wycca and turn her against her master. In a desperate attempt to rescue Wycca from Kobold's evil clutches, Gideon follows her through the magic hole... and finds himself transported from his castle in thirteenth-century England to the terrifyingly modern world of Boston, Massachusetts, in the year 2002.

Little does Gideon know that what he needs most in order to find his wyvern is stuck to the bottom of Theodora's shoe. And little does Theodora know that Gideon is the reason why her summer vacation has begun to seem a whole lot more interesting...
Source: Info in the About Hatching Magic was taken from the book's cover sleeve.

Friday 21 May 2010

MR. MAILMAN: LEADER OF THE PACK

Yikes!! I won Leader Of The Pack by Karen MacInerney from vvb32 Reads' Lone Wolf Giveaway!!! Couldn't wait to find it in my mail!! *jumping up and down* This wait is worth a Mr. Mailman feature! A kind of "blog meme" started by Juju over at Tales Of Whimsy.

...So sometime soon I am hoping to find Leader Of The Pack by Karen MacInerney in the mailbox!! (fingers crossed)

About Mr. Mailman:
Mr. Mailman is a feature Juju decided to try. Periodically when there is a book in route which she is anxiously hoping to find when she gets home to her mailbox - Juju would feature Mr. Mailman.

Mr. Mailman is a hybrid of Waiting on Wednesday by Breaking the Spine and In My Mailbox by the Story Siren. Please feel free to grab the logo and feature your Mr. Mailman request on your site. Please leave a link to your Mr. Mailman request in the comments at Tales Of Whimsy.
Source: Info in the About Mr. Mailman was pinched from Juju's blog, the Tales Of Whimsy, on 04/12/09.

About Leader Of The Pack:
Book 3 of the Tales Of An Urban Werewolf series by Karen MacInerney
WILDLY INDEPENDENT, SHE’S NOT ONE FOR PACK MENTALITY.

On the outside, Sophie Garou is living every woman’s dream: she has beauty, brains, and a big-time position in Austin’s most respected accounting firm (not to mention a very sexy, very successful new boyfriend). But there’s one Sophie would rather keep under wraps: she is a werewolf.

Sophie’s life gets a little more hairy when her long-estranged father, Luc, arrives in the Live Music Capital to attend the werewolves’ annual Howl and reconnect with his daughter. But Luc’s plans fall apart after he’s accused of murder and arrested by his archrival, Wolfgang, leader of the Houston pack (and one notoriously dirty dog).

Wolfgang drools at the thought of Luc’s impending execution, but Sophie won’t let her father die without a fight. Determined to prove his innocence, she and her friends set out to find the real killer. Along the way, Sophie must deal with taboo attractions, Machiavellian intrigues, sinister agendas, and hair-raising betrayals.
Source: Info in the About Leader Of The Pack was taken from vvb32 Reads blog at http://vvb32reads.blogspot.com/2010/04/giveaway-leader-of-pack.html on 21/05/2010.

Thursday 20 May 2010

I SO WANT TO READ THIS: BLACK DUST MAMBO

WISHLIST:

Black Dust Mambo by Adrian Phoenix

Publication Date: 29th July 2010

About Black Dust Mambo
There will be times, girl, when all your magic ain't going to be enough, times when it will seem to dry up like mud under the noonday sun, or even make matters worse . . ."

Kallie Riviere, a fiery Cajun hoodoo apprentice with a talent for trouble, finds herself smack-dab in the middle of one of those times her mentor warned her about when she visits New Orleans to attend the Hecatean Alliance's annual carnival: her hard-bodied conjurer hookup ends up dead in her blood-drenched bed. And he was killed by something that Kallie would never dream of touching -- the darkest of dark juju, soul-eating juju -- a black dust hex that may have been meant to kill her.

Now Kallie has to use every bit of hoodoo knowledge and bayou-bred mojo she possesses to clear her own name and find the killer -- even as that dark sorcerer hunts Kallie and her friends. But Kallie's search for the truth soon leads her in a direction she never anticipated -- back home to Bayou Cypres Noir, and to Gabrielle LaRue, Kallie's aunt, protector, and hoodoo mentor . . . who is looking more and more like she just might be the one who wants Kallie dead.
Source: Info in the About Black Dust Mambo was taken from the author's website at http://adrianphoenix.com/mambo.html on 08/05/2010.

Wednesday 19 May 2010

WW28: THEY CALL ME DEATH

WW28
  • First you grab our Wicked Wednesday pic.
  • Then you grab a book. Turn to page 28. Take the first sentence. And then you post it in your site with a link back to WW28.
  • Come back to Cherry Mischievous - WW28 and give us the url of your post (in a comment at a WW28 post) so that other WW28 readers can find your WW28 offering.

WW28 book offering: They Call Me Death by Missy Jane
Page 28, 1st Sentence:
He nodded with a resigned look on his face.

About They Call Me Death:
Humans are no longer at the top of the food chain…

My name is Alexia Williams. In my world, North America is divided between north and south—but not the way it’s taught in the history books.

After losing my family to the shifters, I joined the Combined Human States Army. Now I find myself on the front lines, defending the wall between my species and theirs. My mission is simple: keep the animals on their side by whatever means necessary—and I’m good at it. I don’t talk to them. I don’t sympathize with them. I sure as hell don’t admire them…until one saves my life.

Andor isn’t like any shifter I’ve ever met. He’s a three-hundred-year-old golden eagle asking for help finding missing shifters who may be in my lands. I just have to decide between helping the animals or ignoring signs that my fellow humans aren’t what I thought they were. But how can I help a species I hate and fear? Even if Andor makes me feel alive again?

In the land of the shifters…they call me Death.
Source: Info in the About They Call Me Death was taken from the author's website at http://msmissyjane.com/shape_shifters on 23/04/2010.

Author link(s):
Missy Jane

Tuesday 18 May 2010

WINNER: EASTERCON GIVEAWAY

Sorry for the delay, this post should have been published yesterday but I forgot!!! So without further ado...

Our EASTERCON GIVEAWAY winner is.... (((drum roll)))



Congratulations to our winner!! Please respond to my email with your postal addy so I could send your book to you! And thank you to everyone who entered the contest!! You didn't win this time, but there are more contests here, so make sure you grab your chance to win... it could be you on our next winner announcement :)

Monday 17 May 2010

Review: WINTERCRAFT by JENNA BURTENSHAW


Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw

Genre: fantasy, YA

About Wintercraft:
Ten years ago Kate Winters' parents were taken by the High Council's wardens to help with the country's war effort. Now the wardens are back...and prisoners, including Kate's uncle Artemis, are taken south on the terrifying Night Train. Kate and her friend Edgar are hunted by a far more dangerous enemy. Silas Dane – the High Council's most feared man – recognises Kate as one of the Skilled; a rare group of people able to see through the veil between the living and the dead. His spirit was damaged by the High Council's experiments into the veil, and he's convinced that Kate can undo the damage and allow him to find peace. The knowledge Kate needs lies within Wintercraft – a book thought to be hidden deep beneath the graveyard city of Fume. But the Night of Souls, when the veil between life and death is at its thinnest, is just days away and the High Council have their own sinister plans for Kate and Wintercraft...
Source: Info in the About Wintercraft was taken from the book's official website at http://www.wintercraft.co.uk/ on 17/04/2010.

Wilma's Review:
The story telling quality was compelling enough but just short of a masterpiece. The world building was good and I could clearly see in my mind's eye the streets of Albion. The character development is very, very good. Silas felt like a person to me instead of just a character from the pages, whom I can sympathize with. This is a fast-paced read which left me wanting more. I hope Ms. Burtenshaw would write the second book quickly :) Fans of Harry Potter would love this book! I would definitely recommend this book to fantasy readers!

Story telling quality = 4
Character building = 4
World building = 4
The story itself = 4
Pace = fast
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Book Link(s):
http://www.wintercraft.co.uk/

We would like to thank Headline Publishing for the review copy of Wintercraft by Jenna Burtenshaw received.
 
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